Apparatus for gathering and conveying material



F. L. STUART.

APPARATUS FOR GATHERING AND CONVEYING MATERIAL. APPLICATION FILEDAUG.I8. I9I9.

1 ,346,390, Patnted July 13, 1920.

2 SHEElS-SHEEI l.

Francis Lee Stuart.

BY//SATTORNEYS ,W

F. L. STUART.

APPARATUS FOR GATHERING AND CONVEYING MATERIAL.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. I8 1919.

1,346,390. Patented July 13, 1920.

2 SHEET-SHEEI 2.

W'ITNESSES.- /VVENTOR mw .ff-'an 011s' Lee Stuart.

Q. .5T 'j BYf//SATTORNEYS titl FRANCIS LEE STUART, 0F NEW Y'DRE., lll'.Y.

APPMATUS FOB, GA'I'HERNG AND CONVEYNG Application led August le, 1919.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that l, FRANCIS Les STUART, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York city, county and State of ew York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Gathering andConveying Material, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for gathering material and forconveying it to the desired 'oiilt of delivery. Letters Fatent of thenited States have heretofore been granted to me for apparatus of thisgeneral kind.

My U. S. Patent No. 1,271,627 of July 9, 1918 (Case 17) shows apparatusin which the material is gathered by a.- plow and delivered t-o aconveyer belt on a boom, which is pivotally connected, to move aboutboth vertical and horizontal axes, with a truck movable over a mainconveyer belt which carries the material to its destination.

' ll/ly' present invention relates particularly to the construction ofthe plow used in apparatus of this kind, and also involves devices foragitating the pile of material While being gathered.

vAccording to this invention the plow is so constructed as to minimizeresistance to the movement of the material onto the conveyer belt of theboom to which the plow delivers, and the boom is provided with rods orarms which serve as agitators for the pile of material in order topreserve a slope in the pile which affords the most easy gathering ofmaterial by the plow.

My improvements are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure 1 is an elevation of the lower end of a boom conveyer equippedwith my improved plow and agitating devices.

Fig. 2 is a plan view-of the parts shown in Figu l,

Fig. 3 shows a section on the line 3-3 ofFig. h.

Fig. ashows a section on the line l-l of 9i. t

Figu 5 is a' plan, diagrammatical view illustrating the manner in whichthe tappan rait-us gathers material.

The boom is constructed in any suitable way and Vit is pivotallyconnected with a truck T 5) mounted to move over a main conveyer belt 'Uarranged. between the i rails of the traclr l?.

'l shows only the lower`I end of Specicaton of Letters Eatent.

Patented July t3, 192m Serial No. MSA-391.

boom frame which is lettered A, and in this instance the boom is made inskeleton form, suitably braced or trussed as indicated. T he lower endof the boom conveyer belt is indicated at B, andV C indicates a frame orhousing for the auxiliary conveyer belt D, similar to a belt of thiskind shown in my prior patent. The skirt boards of the housing ,areindicated at c. rlhe belt D is driven by a motor E, geared as shown at eto said belt D. The housing C' is continued as shown to the outer edgeof the plow F and this extension of the housing contains the rollers orsprockets f for supporting and guiding the lower or outer part of theauX- iliary beltA Vlllhe outer portion of the boom is supported by atractor Gr and said tractor may be used for'swinging the boom conveyerand gathering devices about the pivotal connection of the boom with thetruck. All of these parts are shown in my prior patent or other patentsgranted to me and are not herein claimed as new.

The plow F is of novel construction. The bottom plate m is preferablymade straight and flat and the front and rear edge is inclined from itsouter end inwardly and these. inclined edges carry teeth m, -whichfacilitate the entrance of the plow into the pile and the gathering ofmaterial.

The front and rear sides, as well as the inner side of the plow, areleft open. lt will be observed that the plow is double acting, that is,it is adapted to gather material when swung in either direction. rllhetop plates N, lof the plow are inclined in a novel way. The plate Ninclines from its inner portion downwardly toward the lteeth m and italso inclines inwardly and downwardly toward vthe boom. similarlyinclined. Fach top plate N and is adapted to receive material from theteeth m and to guide it to the conveyer belt D, in the housing C. ltwill be observed by` reference to Figs. 3 and a that by 'thisarrangement the distance from the bottom plate m to the top plates andis much shorter at the inner part of the plow than atthe outer partthereof. rThis Vis an improvement of considerable importance, becausethe inner portion of the plow acts upon material atv The plate U islconveyer belt l? quichly and with little 4 sistance. The outer portionof plow acts upon the material where the pile is thicker and,furthermore, by having the plates N and 0 at a higher elevation at theouter portion of the plow, space is provided for the roller or sprocketwheels 7.

Experience has demonstrated that a plow constructed in the manner beforedescribed operates more efficiently than those heretofore used for asimilar purpose.

, lt will be observed b v reference to Fig. 2 that the skirt boards oithe casing C terminate at the inner edge of the plow and from theselower ends of the skirt lboards project plates J which serve to guide ordirect the gathered material onto the conveyer belt. These plates arepreferably curved in arcs having radii struck from the vertical axisabout] which the boom conveyer turns.

Fhave found that material can be gathered with greater facility if theslope of the pile is maintained at a proper angle. ln Fig. 1, Xindicates the natural slope of the pile on which the plow is operatingrand Y indicates the slope after the plow has operated. lt sometimeshappens, however, that the pile does not maintain the slope indicated atX or Y but the material assumes the conditions shown at Z, and when inthis condition the material is not so easily gathered. l have found thatthis diiiiculty may be overcome by providing agitators which stir oragitato the material in such manner as to cause it to assume or maintainthe proper slope. For this purpose ll employ outwardly extending rods P,F', the lower rods P being shorter than the upper ones. These rods maybe rigidly attached to the outer end of the boom, but preferably theyare made adjustable as shown; As indicated in Fig. 2, the rods P arepivotally mounted at p and each of these rods is connected by a rod Q toadjusting devices g. It will be observed that the inner end of each rodQ, is threaded and a sleeve nut is provided at g which may be operatedtol draw the rod inward or force it outward and thus adjust theagitating rod to which it is connected. Any suitable device for thispurpose may be employed. Fig. 2 clearly indicates a construction whichis suitable and it also indicates how the agitating rods may be adjustedin various ways. rThe lower rods P may be adjusted in a similar way.

in the operation of the plow indicated in Figs. l and 5 when theresistance of the head of the vpile is sufficient the material is pushedup the incline by the plow and falls onto the conveyer belt. it will beobserved that the sliding surface N 0 in Fig. 3 is much less tha thesliding surface in Fig. Li. rihere is mulh greater depth of materialover the outer portion of the plow .shown in section in Fig. A, as thematerial ,slides up the incline so that with less depth et ma- Lsaaeeoterial at the outer edge of the pile or the inner edge of the'plow,there is less height and distance for the material to move to reach theconveyer in the central portion of the plow. In this way there is lessresistance from the material in front of the plow. lVith regard to theagitating means shown, these are believed to be of importance, but theagitating means may be varied. I have merely shown the preferred way ofperforming this operation.

l claim as my invention 1. Apparatus for gathering and conveyingmaterial, comprising a conveyer for the material and a plow deliveringthereto provided with a top plate over which the material passes to theconveyer, inclined from its outer edge inwardly and downwardly by theside of the conveyer belt and also from its front edge upwardly andinwardly toward the side of the conveyer belt.

2. Apparatus for gathering and conveying material, comprising a conveyerfor the gathered material and a plow delivering to said conveyer,provided with a top plate over which the material passes to theconveyer, which is doubly inclined, viz., from its front receiving edgeupwardly toward the conveyer belt and from its outer edge downwardly andinwardly sidewise of the conve er belt. Y

3. plow for reclaiming conveyers, of trapezoidal form, having toothedreceiving edges and top plates over which the material passes from thetoothed edges which are 100 doubly inclined, viz., Jfrom the toothededges vupwardly to their delivery ends and from their outer edgesdownwardly and inwardly.

4. ApparatusV for gathering and conveying material, comprising a boomconveyer mounted to swing about a vertical axis, a gathering plow on theouter end of the boom conveyer, a rod carried by the boom, swingingtherewith and extending therefrom across the plow for agitating orstirring the pile of material during the operation of the plow to obtainthe desired slope in the pile.

5. Apparatus for gathering and conveying material, comprising a boomconveyer mounted to swing about a vertical axis, a gathering plow on theouter end et the boom conveyer, and rods arranged one above the othercarried by the boom, swinging therewith and extending therefrom acrossthe plow for agitating or stirring the pile ci? 12a material during theoperation of the plow to obtain the desired slope in the pile.

6. Apparatus for gathering and conveying material, comprising a boomconveyer mounted to swing about a vertical axis, a ma' gathering plow onthe outer end oi the boom conveyer, an agitating rod carried by theboom, swinging therewith and extending therefrom across the plow foragitating or stirring the pile of material during the opit@ eration ofthe plow to obtain the desired slope in the pile, and means foradjusting the rod in a horizontal plane to cause it to assume differentangles with relation to the plow.

7. Apparatus for gathering and conveying material, comprising a boomconveyer mounted to swing about a vertical axis, a gathering plow on theouter end of the boom conveyer, agitating rods carried by the boomconveyer, .swinging therewith and extending therefrom across the plowfor agitating or stirring the pile of material during the operation ofthe plow, and devices for adjusting the rods in a horizontal plane tocause them to assume different angles relatively to each other.

8. Apparatus lfor gathering and conveying material, comprising a boomconveyer mouhted to swing in a horizontal plane, a plow for gatheringmaterial on the outer end of the boom conveyer having an inclined frontedge arranged diagonally with reference to the longitudinal axis of theboom conveyer, and a plate at the inner end of the edge of the plowwhich projects for# wardly therefrom in the direction in which the boomconveyer swings and which is curved correspondingly with the arc inwhich the plow moves. l

9. Apparatus for gathering and conveying material, comprisingaco'nveyer, a plow delivering to said conveyer'provided with a top plateover which the material passes to the conveyer which is doubly inclined,viz., from its front receiving edge upwardly toward the conveyer beltand from its outer edge downwardly and inwardly sidewise o f theconveyer belt, and a curved plate projecting from the inner edge oftheplow to direct'the material thereto.

10. Apparatus for gathering and conveying material, comprising aconveyer belt, a plow delivering to said conveyer having a toothed frontedge and provided with a top plate over which the material passes to theconveyer which is doubly inclined, viz., from its outer edge downwardlytoward the inner edge of the plow and from its front or receiving edgeupwardly.

In testimonyl whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

FRANCIS LEE STUART.

